"Lincoln's Proclamation of the Emancipation of the Negroes" (1863)* by Lee Lawrie, East Facade.

Here, the nation's 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, backed by Secretary of State William H. Seward and Attorney General Edward Bates reads the Emancipation, effective January 1, 1863.

While it was unenforceable in the slave states, it declared that all slaves would be free. It also lead to post Civil War amendments to the Constitution. Ammendment XIII (1865) which abolished all slavery; Ammendment XIV (1868) which granted citizenship to freedmen; and XV which provided the right to vote, regardless of race, creed, or prior servitude.

The anniversary of this event is marked with celebration as Juneteenth.

It should also be noted that Nebraska did not become a state until 1867, more than two years after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

*Use of the term Negroes to describe African Americans is found in the original title for this mural, as designated by Dr. Hartley Burr Alexander, the Sculpture Program's Thematic Consultant, and it was written in the 1920s.